Looking up through tough times
Just weeks after Paul and Sharon Battle exchanged their city shoes for gumboots and moved to a farm in northern Victoria, their region became submerged for nearly two months in the Victorian floods. It has been tough going, trying to get their lives back on track, though Red Cross has been there to support them on their journey.
"Who says we don't recycle?" asks Sharon Battle, pointing proudly at her colour bond chook house filled with 23 happy chickens. "It used to be our bathroom but because we had to rip it out, Paul said 'I can make the perfect chook house' so here we are. We call it the Taj Mahal," she laughs.
"Sharon says to have a farm you've got to be Old MacDonald," adds Paul. "I'm Old MacBattle at the moment."
Sharon and her husband Paul are big believers in staying positive by having a laugh and they've had a lot of practice lately. Their dream was to own what they call an "Old MacDonald style farm" with lots of animals. A week after the couple moved from Melbourne to start their new life on the farm outside of Kerang in northern Victoria, the floods took almost everything they owned.
"The house might take a bit to get back - this has put us back a couple of years but our dreams are still here," says Sharon. The flood waters rose swiftly, affecting thousands of properties. Four hours after the SES knocked on Paul and Sharon's door the water was already a foot deep.
When they came back three days after evacuating, their home was a metre under water. It remained under water for two months.
"We just packed up as much of the stuff and put what we could up high. There was a track up the back called Whispey Hill where all the other farmers were meeting to have everyone on higher ground. We stayed there that night," remembers Paul. The next day, Paul and Sharon were helped out by Red Cross at the relief centre in Cohuna, where they stayed three nights.
"Red Cross has really helped. That's what more people should realise. What they do to help people out there, not just other farmers or families in trouble, Red Cross is there for them. So I thank you because you have done a good job," Paul says.
Although Sharon and Paul say they were strangers in the community, the floods brought fast yet lasting friendships. "Through the flood we have met some great people including the neighbours and the community itself has been excellent. They have totally helped us out with clean up days, with things that we've wanted."
The community has run a range of fundraisers and a neighbour even gave them $200. "We ended up putting a deposit on a fridge because the fridge also went under. The community has been wonderful," Sharon says emotionally.
Sharon heads off to feed the pigs and it is obvious that she loves her animals. One of the pigs lies down like a dog and enjoys some affection. When the floods hit, many of the animals had to fend for themselves. Some of the animals like their prized alpacas went missing, while others were saved by kind farmers who had the machinery to assist with relocation. Sharon took their dogs to a safe haven in Melbourne before returning to the farm.
"When I came back two weeks later, I was devastated. You think of a flood, flood comes, flood goes. Water comes, water goes. But actually … water by this stage was a metre or so high. I was worried about the animals especially the alpacas because I found out that they couldn't go anywhere. I was so surprised how devastating it looked but on the other hand it also looked peaceful," Sharon recalls.
Both Sharon and Paul have been assisted through personal support home visits Red Cross has been running across flood affected areas of northern and western Victoria. The support involves someone to talk to, providing information and making sure people are aware of and can access other services.
"I'd have to take my hat off to one of the workers for Red Cross, that's Nathan," says Paul with a quiver in his voice. "He's just been excellent. And he has been there for both me and Sharon, he's good. I'm getting a bit teary over that."
"The personal support gave us a bit more confidence in both ourselves. We were both down." Walking through their house which is being slowly rebuilt, Paul reflects:
"We'd just look at our place and look at our stuff and it's all wrecked. It's all gone and there's a lot of things there that …they say fire takes everything but water does as well, you can't replace a lot of things."
Sharon says that it has been traumatic dealing with the loss of treasured items. "A lot of our photos were damaged. We'd forgotten to put them up - the photo albums - a lot of them of Paul's mum we can't get back because she's passed away and it's a soft spot for Paul. That was the hardest part."
Reflecting on what they have been through over recent months, Sharon says she wishes she had made a plan and had better prepared for the floods. "If I had a booklet to say in an emergency have a little box or a checklist, your photos, the babies christening gown, your wedding albums. When we were getting out of here I also forgot my purse. I also had no ID. Red Cross was really understanding. Whether it be fire or flood, just be prepared," Sharon emphasises.
"Paul and I have lots of hope for this place in the future. What we like best is just the peace and the quiet. We just love sitting outside. This area of Victoria is beautiful. As long as we stay focused on our goals and our dreams I think that we could achieve anything out here."
Antony Balmain and Laura McKay - September 2011
Related links
For further information on the Red Cross response to the Victorian floods 2011, please visit http://www.redcross.org.au/victorian-floods-2011.aspx
Credit: Australian Red Cross/Rodney Dekker